I’m enjoying Los Angeles, where we’re rehearsing for a tour. The wind kicked up today, so it’s nice and breezy.

Did your beard get blown about?

Oh, you know it.

It’s great that you’ve finally recorded a solo album(1). But how do the other ZZ Toppers feel about it?

They’re digging it, on a number of levels. Number 1: they’ll be enjoying the holiday while I’m out slaving on the road; and number 2: they actually like the expression; it has stimulated their thinking. They said: “Gee whizz, this is very different.”

Ha ha! Yeah. Well, we were enjoying the environs of the recording studio with absolutely no rules. And we were exercising our experimental side in all different directions. Some of the stuff is quite unusual. It is not another ZZ Top-sounding record.

Could it be described as Hispanic-bionic boogie?

I like it! I’m gonna use that. “Hispanic-bionic boogie.” Man, I’m gonna write that down. That’ll get ’em cracked up. I’ve got to call Joe Hardy [producer] – he will fall out when he hears of this.

The title Perfectamundo: it sounds like something Arnie might say in Terminator.

It’s not real Spanish. If one were to exclaim “it’s a perfect world” it would be “mundo perfecto”. By twisting it around it seems to flow a little better, or at least it does for my minimalist command of the language. Some people call it “Spanglish”; I call it “Slanguish” – slangified Spanish.

Is it an ironic comment on the parlous state of the planet?

Yes. It seems to be just that.

Is this one of the more worrying times you’ve known?

Yeah. You know, if you make the mistake of tuning into the news broadcasts, I think the average person would be disappointed. I try and avoid them. There’s this background of discontent and annoyance.

ZZ Top: Dalís of the Delta

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Your album, on the other hand, has a festive atmosphere. Pickin’ Up Chicks on Dowling Street. Is that you mocking men on the prowl?

Oh yeah. Dowling Street is a genuine avenue in Houston’s Third Ward, which is a fairly dangerous spot with a dicey reputation. It’s always been wacky.

When did you last pick up a chick on Dowling Street?

1968.

In the famous ZZ Top videos(2), the women can be said to wield the power. Is that your get-out-of-sexist-jail-free card?

I would tend to lean in that direction. We haven’t done badly by it. As the old saying goes, “Pretty girls and a flashy car” – it’s a given.

Was it meant to be a subversion of the Brian Wilson cars-and-girls California myth?

Now that’s an interesting twist. I never thought about it in those terms, but yes. He was onto it way, way back … I’m still trying to get over “Hispanic-bionic boogie”.

In 1990, ZZ Top appeared in Back to the Future III. The other day – October 21, 2015 – it was the future. What were you doing?

Believe it or not, I found myself on a set with [actress] Mary Steenburgen. She was filming a scene in which everybody on the planet has vanished except seven surviving souls and there is no indication of what caused everybody to vaporise. It’s for a TV show(3).

Oh, my goodness. Well, if you’re not in Back to the Future where the car will fly – if you’re stuck on the pavement – I’d go with the Eliminator.

What were you doing on October 21, 1985?

We were working on what became Afterburner, following on the heels of 1983’s Eliminator. Most of 1985 was spent in Memphis, Tennessee, making that follow-up record.

That was the peak of your fame. What was it like being in one of the biggest bands on earth?

It was a great time. We were all hanging out in Memphis, which is a strange town. We were in the studio throughout the week and we’d generally take a Saturday and Sunday to catch up and knock around. And Memphis being right on the banks of the Mississippi river, we had a buddy who had a ski boat, and we’d go out water-skiing, and come back in the evening and go to the nightclubs and get our batteries charged with some great Memphis music.

What about October 21, 1955, when you were five?

That’s what started it – I saw Elvis Presley. My mom had taken my younger sister and I to see him, and that did it. I saw that, and I thought “that’s for me”.

ZZ Top have been compared to all sorts of unexpected bands, because of your presumed satirical quality and trash aesthetic: Kiss, Devo, the Cramps, B52s, Ramones. Which do you think is the most like you?

I know the one I’d most like to be compared with – Depeche Mode. I’m really fanatical about those cats. I had the pleasure of making their acquaintance in 85 and we’ve stayed pals ever since. I worked with them last year, actually. They had a record called Soothe My Soul [from 2013’s Delta Machine] and I got a phone call from Dave [Gahan] saying, “We’ve got to do an extended remix, and we need a little Texas mud sprinkled over it.” I said “I’m your guy!”

They will deny it, but yeah. We both came out the winners: we didn’t have to shave and they didn’t have to pay.

You were ranked at No 32 in the Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Do you know who you were sandwiched between?

I do not. That’s a good question.

It was Prince and Ry Cooder.

Well, that’s some pretty powerful company to be in. They’re both stunning instrumentalists. As long as Jimmie Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck are in the list, that’s great(5).

Hendrix raved about you on American TV, didn’t he?

Yeah, he did. And I got to hang out and be friends with him. I remember he had a stereo record player brought up to his hotel room quite often and I wound up across the hall: I’d tiptoe into the room and there he was playing along with Truth, the first record by the Jeff Beck Group. He was saying, “Man, how do you think he does that?” And I said, I’m still figuring out how you do it! I shared that story with Beck and he was flabbergasted.

In 1982, you went on a hunting trip with legendary music writer Lester Bangs, didn’t you?

I certainly did. I said, “Lester, we’re going to try and bring some food back to the table.” He said, “OK.” I said, “Do you know how to shoot a gun?” He said, “Well, I don’t know what that thing is.” I said, “It’s a shotgun.” He said, “I’m from Manhattan – the only gun I know is one you can put in your pocket.”

Did either of you kill anything?

Well, yeah. We were perched right on the banks of the Rio Grande river, down South Texas, right on the Mexican border. And the birds were attracted by the water and our buddy, Jimmy Payne, who set the trip up for us, he had a recipe: bacon-wrapped quail dipped in a barbecue sauce with honey. Oh, man. What time is it over there?

8.27pm.

You’ve still got time to go out and grab some Mexican food.

And put some of your sauce on it(6)?

Yeah, let’s do it!

What’s more lucrative – branded sauces, or music?

Well, we give the money to charity, so …

Not long ago, you had a track played on board a Soyuz spacecraft during its launch to the International Space Station, didn’t you?

Yes. Flyin’ High.(7)

Is that the weirdest place ZZ Top have been played?

Well, we’re still remaining hopeful – years ago, I composed a letter to Nasa and offered the services of ZZ Top to be the lounge band aboard the space shuttle. And we did get a reply. I don’t know who had more fun: us composing it or the person who composed the reply. It said, “Well, we appreciate the offer, we find it rather appealing, we’ll be working on some extra space – we’ll let you know.” Basically, we’re available. We only require a 15-minute break every hour.